Featured in this case are nineteenth and early twentieth century handmade recipe books created by Mississippians. Containing far more than a modern cookbook, these volumes chronicled the activities of a household, from instructions on making the perfect lemon cake to treating the symptoms of mange in dogs. Collected primarily by women, these handwritten instructional texts frequently reference recipes found in national publications, such as the “Tomato Ketchup - Lady’s Book” recipe found in the cookbook from the Finley family of Holly Springs, MS. The recipe’s title references a printed recipe found in an 1862 issue of Godey’s Lady’s Book, which before the American Civil War boasted a readership exceeding one hundred thousand subscribers.

Many of these books traveled their way through several generations, each adding additional instructions over time. In addition, such volumes often originated within white households of privilege and are windows into the complicated past of Southern foodways. Scholars, such as Rebecca Sharpless, note that households, such as those featured, were frequently supported by African American women who, “between emancipation in 1865 and the civil rights movement…did domestic work, including cooking, to earn wages and support their families, biding their time until better opportunities opened.”

In the display case: